Of course, these two theories are equally valid, and are both supported by equal amounts of evidence. The problem is that these two theories appear to contradict each other. Therefore, we are forced to choose one of the following alternatives.

1. The Universe was actually created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and The Invisible Pink Unicorn is a bogus false idol that people are foolish to believe in.

2. The Universe was actually created by the Invisible Pink Unicorn and the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a bogus false idol people are foolish to believe in.

3. The Invisible Pink Unicorn is another name for the Flying Spaghetti Monster but his real form is a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

4. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is another form of the Invisible Pink Unicorn but her real form is an Invisible Pink Unicorn.

5. Both the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Invisible Pink Unicorn exist, and are in fact married, like Zeus and Hera, or Osiris and Isis, and created the Universe together.

6. They both exist and are enemies, and the universe was created by their ongoing warfare.

7. They both exist, and one is good, to lead men to salvation, and the other evil, and leads men astray.

8. Another possibility is that neither exist, and in fact the Universe was not made by anyone.

The final option is perhaps the most disturbing, but it is perhaps the easiest way to reconcile these two theories, both of which are supported by equal amounts of evidence, so we should be willing to keep an open mind regarding this final option.

Don't forget the Everett many worlds approach to Quantum Physics. There could be an almost infinite number of universes and each of the explanations you propose would be true in any number of them. The problem I have with this theory as it is usually understood is that each universe is generally understood to be self-contained. Personally, I think a little jumping back and forth between a Flying Spaghetti Monster universes and an Invisible Pink Unicorn universe would be a heck of a lot of fun.

"Most people just take themselves too damn seriously, which is why they act like damn fools."
- Robert Anton Wilson

1a. The Universe was actually created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but if some people would rather believe in a nonexistent Invisible Pink Unicorn that's fine with him.

1b/2b/8b. The Universe was actually created by some other entity, and both the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorn are bogus false idols that people are foolish to believe in.

1c/2c/8c. The Universe was actually created by some other entity, but if some people would rather believe in a nonexistent Invisible Pink Unicorn or Flying Spaghetti Monster that's fine with him/her/it.

3b/4b. The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorn are alternate forms of another entity whose real form is something else, which may or may not be known to anyone.

5a. Both the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Invisible Pink Unicorn exist, and they're spending six weeks in a mansion with eight other deities, twelve beautiful young women, and twelve hunky young men as they search for their one true love while competing for a two-million-dollar prize, coming this summer on Fox.

The Pastafarian position is, of course, 1a. Please note the difference from your choice 1.

Actually, regarding the iconography, I summed up the difference between IPU and FSM this way, in another post:

I wrote:Invisible Pink Unicornism is intended to discount the idea of any god's existence, and the IPU as an image helps to convey that: a unicorn, in our current culture, is a rather trivial and ineffectual beast. It might poke someone with its horn but it probably won't, it'll probably just sit there, comforting in its familiarity but inert, like a figurine on a little girl's nightstand. The FSM, by contrast, by virtue of its noodly appendages, is a dynamic creature, potentially capable of touching anyone or everyone at any time, or always, as your beliefs incline.

That is to say, that while both FSM and IPU challenge conventional concepts of a monotheistic god, their emphasis is in different directions: IPU on the non-necessity for a god's existence and the likeliness that no god exists; FSM on the lack of reliable knowledge of the actual nature of god (if any) and tolerance of diversity of opinions regarding that nature. These are not entirely disjoint. I'm sure some IPUists, individually, focus on the unknowability of, rather than the nonexistence of, god; and some FSMists are atheists. But the weight of emphasis differs between the two.

Well, if we look at Super String Theory (SST), one possibility is that our universe is embedded in a higher-dimensional membrane (or "brane"), and that multiple branes exist side by side. One idea of SST is that our universe came into existence when two branes intersected.

Perhaps one brane belongs to the FSM, and another brane belongs to the IPU. Perhaps these branes bumped into each other, say while jostling on the subway, and created our universe. Thus, in a way, BOTH the FSM and IPU created our universe.

BTW...one philosophical question...if it is invisible, how do you know the Unicorn is pink?

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Since all of observable reality is simply the manifestation of the Hyper Spaghetti Monster, both the FSM, the IPU, and all other deities are manifestations of His Noodlyness. They are otherwise their own beings with their own powers, and may create or be created according to those powers.

Poincare's Stepchild, because, as with all religions, they have faith of course.

Personnally, I pick number 5...becuase it makes me so happy. I have this wonderful picture of the two them sitting on Mount Olympus side by side on ginourmous thrones (well, the FSM sitting there, but I have faith the IPU is there being pink as well).

alexrose wrote:Poincare's Stepchild, because, as with all religions, they have faith of course.

Personnally, I pick number 5...becuase it makes me so happy. I have this wonderful picture of the two them sitting on Mount Olympus side by side on ginourmous thrones (well, the FSM sitting there, but I have faith the IPU is there being pink as well).

I think that number 5 has a lot of appeal, too. Not to mention any names, but some solitary male deities have a bad habit of starting wars and raining fire and brimstone on cities when left to their own devices. So consorts may be a stabilizing influence and a good thing. On the other hand, let's hope this is not a Zeus and Hera situation, although that would lend itself to all kinds of interesting developments such as part pasta and part human demigods.

"Most people just take themselves too damn seriously, which is why they act like damn fools."

8. Another possibility is that neither exist, and in fact the Universe was not made by anyone.

How could you ! What an outrageous proposition is that !!

Poincare's Stepchild wrote:Well, if we look at Super String Theory (SST), one possibility is that our universe is embedded in a higher-dimensional membrane (or "brane"), and that multiple branes exist side by side. One idea of SST is that our universe came into existence when two branes intersected.

Perhaps one brane belongs to the FSM, and another brane belongs to the IPU. Perhaps these branes bumped into each other, say while jostling on the subway, and created our universe. Thus, in a way, BOTH the FSM and IPU created our universe.

BTW...one philosophical question...if it is invisible, how do you know the Unicorn is pink?

I think brane cosmology is independent from SST, but of course not incompatible.

And yeah, I do want to believe that FSM live on our brane, and IPU on a second one, and that it's thier union that created us !

And about the "invisible-pink" paradoxe, I think it is obvious that the Unicorn is invisible to your eyes, but pink deep into your heart !

Poincare's Stepchild wrote:Well, if we look at Super String Theory (SST), one possibility is that our universe is embedded in a higher-dimensional membrane (or "brane"), and that multiple branes exist side by side. One idea of SST is that our universe came into existence when two branes intersected.

Perhaps one brane belongs to the FSM, and another brane belongs to the IPU. Perhaps these branes bumped into each other, say while jostling on the subway, and created our universe. Thus, in a way, BOTH the FSM and IPU created our universe.

It sounds like a good way to reconcile the theories is to say that the FSM has one brane, the IPU has another brane, and other dieties would then have other branes. Perhaps we could start a new sect advocating that view. However, you would then have a multiverse, meaning the overarching collection of all universes, and this would then raise the question of who made the multiverse? If you say the multiverse was always there without beginning, or was not created by anyone, then why not just save a step and say that our universe was always there without bebinning, or was not created by anyone?

Also, some people try to distinguish between the FSM and "his noodliness". Well, I don't see any difference. "His noodliness" is another name for the FSM. If you try to say that one brane was created by the FSM, and another by IPU, and then go on to say that the entire collection of branes making up the muliverse, is somehow created by "his noodliness", then you are claiming supremacy of the FSM over the IPU and all other deities, and on what grounds to do you claim that? If the FSM is so nice, he would not want to lord over the IPU and other dieties.